Large Text Files Con't Open? How to View Large Text Files

Suppose your large text files can't open normally on your computer; Don't worry! This guide will introduce x ways to view a large text file even if it was corrupted! The reliable text word converter, EaseUS Fixo Document Repair, helps repair large text files that can't be opened.

A large text file can't open! This frustrating issue happens on both Windows PC and Macs. When you double-click that massive 10GB server log, the 5GB genomic data file, or the multi-gigabyte CSV export, expecting it to pop open. Instead, your default text editor spins endlessly, grinds to a halt, crashes spectacularly, or simply refuses to acknowledge your click. Your work grinds to a halt.

People posted on the Reddit forum that they couldn't view their large text files and asked for help. Why does this happen, and crucially, how can you view large text files when they can't open or read normally? This post will discuss how to view the contents of large text files that can't be opened, including using a text recovery converter. Read on to discover the potential causes and effective solutions.

Why Large Text Files Can't Open

Standard text editors, like Notepad, TextEdit, or even many basic code editors, are designed for convenience with everyday files. They hit a wall with massive files for several key reasons:

• RAM Overload: Most editors try to load the entire file contents into RAM at once; for instance, a 10GB file requires at least 10GB of available RAM to load, without counting the OS and other programs.
• Inefficient Processing: Even if RAM isn't completely exhausted, editors parse the entire file for syntax highlighting, line numbering, and search indexing upon opening. For billions of lines, this process becomes unbearably slow or unresponsive.
• File Handle Limitations: Extremely large files can sometimes exceed operating system limits for file access, especially in older software.
• Lack of "Lazy Loading": Basic editors don't employ techniques that only read the portion of the file currently visible on your screen (or near it) into memory, fetching more as you scroll.
• Text File Corruption: Large text files can become corrupted due to interruptions in the saving or editing process, as well as system errors or virus infections on the storage device, which can also lead to file corruption and ultimately render the corrupted file inaccessible.

When the large text file can't be opened due to file corruption, the only way to view the large text file is by using tools like EaseUS Fixo Document Repair, which helps repair Word/Excel/PowerPoint files so you can open or edit them normally.

Free download the corrupt file repair software on your computer, and follow the steps in the next part to repair the corrupted text file.

Fix 1. Repair the Corrupted Text File to View Its Content

Follow the steps below to repair your corrupted text files using EaseUS Fixo Document Repair:

Step 1. Download and launch Fixo on your PC or laptop. Choose "File Repair" to repair corrupted Office documents, including Word, Excel, PDF, and others. Click "Add Files" to select corrupted documents.

Step 2. To repair multiple files at once, click the "Repair All" button. If you want to repair a single document, move your pointer to the target file and choose "Repair". You can also preview the documents by clicking the eye icon.

Step 3. Click "Save" to save a selected document. Select "Save All" to save all the repaired files. Choose "View Repaired" to locate the repaired folder.

Share this post with your friends on SNS and help them learn how to view a large text file even if it is corrupted.

Fix 2. View Large Text Files via 3 Built-in System Tools

Command-line tools can be the most reliable, built-in, and resource-efficient methods. These tools are available on almost any computer and are incredibly powerful for viewing large files piece by piece. They work by streaming the file content, processing only what you ask for at that moment.

They use minimal RAM and CPU because they process the file sequentially or only load tiny chunks as required by your command. They won't crash your system.

Method 1. Using Command Prompt on Windows

Step 1. Press "Win + R", type cmd, and press the Enter key or click the "Run as administrator" option.

Step 2. Navigate to the folder: cd C:\MyBigFiles.

Step 3. Use the "more" command to view progressively: more < hugefile.log.

Step 4. It shows the first screen. Press "Enter" for the next line, "Space" for the next screen, and "Q" to quit.

Step 5. Use the "find" command for searching: find "ERROR" hugefile.log.

It finds and displays all lines containing "ERROR".

Method 2. Using PowerShell on Windows

Step 1. Press "Win + R", type powershell, and press the Enter key.

Step 2. Navigate to the folder containing your file using the "cd" command (e.g., cd C:\MyBigFiles).

Step 3. Use the "Get-Content" cmdlet:

• View the beginning: "Get-Content -Path .\hugefile.log -Head 100", which shows the first 100 lines.
• View the end: "Get-Content -Path .\hugefile.log -Tail 100", which shows the last 100 lines.
• Follow in real-time: "Get-Content -Path .\hugefile.log -Wait -Tail 50" (Continuously shows the last 50 lines and updates as the file grows - great for live logs).
• Search for a pattern: "Get-Content -Path .\hugefile.log | Select-String "ERROR"" (Pipes content to find lines containing "ERROR"). Press "Ctrl + C" to stop.

If you think this post is informative, share it to help more people learn how to view large text files on a Windows PC or Mac.

Method 3. Using Terminal on Mac

Step 1. Open Terminal on your Mac.

Step 2. Navigate to the folder: cd ~/Documents/BigFiles.

Step 3. Type less hugefile.log: Then you can press these keys to find the target text file:

Keys	Explaination	Command Lines	Explaination
Enter	Next line	/pattern	Search forward for "pattern"
Space	Next page	?pattern	Search backward
B	Previous page	n	Next match
G	Go to the end	N	Previous match

The "less" command only loads parts of the file as needed. Extremely efficient.

Fix 3. How to View Large Text Files via Dedicated Software

Fortunately, several strategies and tools bypass the "load everything into RAM" approach, allowing you to navigate large text files efficiently. Specialized large file viewers should be the most user-friendly solution, as they are built from the ground up to handle massive files.

Key features include:

• Efficient Navigation: Fast scrolling, jumping to line numbers or percentages.
• Lazy Loading: Only loads the visible portion + a buffer into RAM.
• Robust Search: Often includes a regex search without loading the whole file.
• Custom Encoding Handling: Essential for non-standard text files.

Software categorized as "Large File Viewer", "Hex Editor with Large File Support", or "Log File Analyzer", etc. Numerous excellent free and open-source options are available in these categories.

Some programmers' text editors or Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) have better large file handling capabilities or plugins/extensions specifically designed for this purpose compared to basic editors. They often implement lazy loading or have memory limits you can adjust.

However, this tool can't view the content of a corrupted large text file. Install the trusted EaseUS document repair tool to repair the corrupted large text files first, then view the text file using specialized file viewers.

View Large Text Files FAQs

Here are questions people frequently ask when they are facing the large text file can't open issue; take a look to learn more about how to view a large text file!

1. How do I open a 200 GB text file?

If your text file is unstructured and doesn't have delimiters, you'll need to open it in a text editor for huge files. For large files (hundreds of MB or GBs), desktop editors like Sublime Text, Notepad++, or VS Code are generally more reliable than most online options.

2. How do I open a file that is too large for Notepad?

To open a large file that exceeds Notepad's capacity, use a dedicated text editor like Notepad++ (Windows) or Sublime Text, or a specialized large file viewer such as Large Text File Viewer (Windows) or Glogg (cross-platform). These tools efficiently handle massive files by loading only visible portions or using optimized memory management. For command-line options, consider "more, less (Linux/macOS)", or PowerShell's "Get-Content" with pagination.

3. How to break large text files?

Press the "Go To" button. Then press "Shift + Ctrl" and the "Home" button, you will select all text (Shift) from that position to the start of the document (Ctrl + Home). Press "Ctrl + X" (or use the menu "Edit > Cut") to move all those lines into the clipboard. Press "Ctrl + N" (or use the menu "File > New") to create a new document.

Conclusion

Don't let "large text file can't open" be the end of the road. While your everyday text editor might buckle under the sheer size, understanding why it happens (RAM limitations and inefficient loading) points you directly to the solution. By choosing tools designed for the task, whether specialized large file viewer software categories or the powerful, built-in command-line utilities, you can efficiently navigate, search, and analyze text files of almost any size.

Remember to start with the command-line tools; they are your most reliable and universally available allies in conquering massive text files. If a large text file is corrupted due to unknown reasons, you still have a chance to view its content by using a professional document repair tool - EaseUS Fixo Document Repair.